As we wander our path through life, almost all of us will have tangential meetings with the Reaper a time or two before our final, personal reckoning.    But some of us meet him a bit more often than that.   Death quietly, continuously stalks the halls of the ICU, peering over our shoulders as we struggle and fight to keep him out.  Or at least to delay his inevitable arrival.  Perhaps in other cultures, he is not so feared and worshipped at the same time.  Bu...

Tomorrow morning we fly to New Hampshire. Saturday we spend the day looking for a house. I am scared to death.  There are a lot of things about this next stage of life that frighten me.  I can admit that.  Moving to an entirely new place, being an actual doctor, that first night of call when I am the one in charge of 70 patients, the first patient who dies on my watch. But right now, I am most terrified of the prospect of buying a house.  We have been renting for...

"If you were a true fan. . ."   Then what?  If I were a true fan I would unquestioningly love everything from group X, every movie from director Y, every book by author Q, etc.  And I would make sure that I vehemently berated and lambasted anyone who disagreed.  I would, in no uncertain terms, remind those who didn't "get" whatever the item may be that, if they were true fans, they would grovel at the feet of the artist.   Case in point: Tool.   Good band.&nb...

Hot on the heels of the success of previous releases R30 and Rush in Rio , the boys from the Great White North are preparing their fans for another round of DVD concert goodness. Announced earlier this month, Rush is preparing to release Replay x3 on June 13, 2006. With new stereo mixes of the audio (thanks to guitarist Alex Lifeson), the 4 disc set will contain DVD versions of some Rush classics, thus far only available on VHS (and some choice Laserdisc copies). The set will contain 19...

For too long now we have ignored one of the most gross demonstrations of prejudice and bigotry in the US.  It is time we remedied that. I am speaking of the vile practice of Oderism. Yes, the practice of being prejudiced against those who smell bad. It must stop.  The media shoves this notion down our throats.  We see daily advertisements for anti-perspirants and deoderants, all trying to convince us that we must not stink, that we must avoid those who do, and that to bec...

For too long now we have ignored one of the most gross demonstrations of prejudice and bigotry in the US.  It is time we remedied that. I am speaking of the vile practice of Oderism. Yes, the practice of being prejudiced against those who smell bad. It must stop.  The media shoves this notion down our throats.  We see daily advertisements for anti-perspirants and deoderants, all trying to convince us that we must not stink, that we must avoid those who do, and that to bec...

I don't know why, but I realized today that lately I have been all out of sorts.  I have made a number of uncharacteristically rude comments online (at other sites), have been quick to anger at times, and just generally unpleasant. I wish I knew why, so I could put a stop to it.  I suppose I will just have to try harder. Though letting it out now and then sure is fun. . .

Monday Morning Apocalypse Artist: Evergrey Year: 2006 Click here for the artist's site Sweden's Evergrey have carved out quite a niche for themselves. I can think of no other band that really comes close to their brand of somewhat progressive, dark and melancholic power metal. And with their previous five albums, they have built quite an expectation for their fans. Dark and brooding lyrics, excellent musicianship, powerful guitars and distinctive, gravelly vocals have helped to m...

I had heard all the stories.  100+ hour weeks, staying up for 40 hours straight, not seeing your family for days.  The thoughts of a career in medicine frightened me. I also thought it was all ludicrous, the holdover traditions of an archaic, out-of-date and out-of-touch system.  It was all about paying your dues to enter this boy's club.  They did it, so you have to as well if you ever want to be accepted.  I was positive it was another in a long series of hoops that...

30 hour call is a fascinating thing (fortunately it wasn't quite a full 30!).  It does weird things to your head.  I walk into the unit in the morning, talk to the nurses who are approaching the end of their 12 hour shift.  They leave and a new batch comes on.  You then spend the next 12 hours working with them.  That is not an insignificant amount of time.  But then they go home. And you are still there.  Wearing the same scrubs you had on 15 hours ago....

I found this thanks to my good friend Stanton . He pointed out that Google Calendar is no up and running.  My schedule is such that I don't use a calendar that much, but this looks like it has a lot of potential.  I love being able to drag on the small map and have that date range show up automatically.  The Quick Add feature is great as well.  Not too sure yet on the sharing idea, but I can see that a family could really take advantage of that.  Pretty cool.&n...

Karmacode Artist: Lacuna Coil Year: 2006 Click here for the artist's site Before Evanescence made it cool to be a rock band with a female lead singer, Lacuna Coil had already polished the sound with five solid releases. Too few people knew of the band, but that would soon change. With intelligent and aggressive touring, a strong work ethic, and stellar musicianship and song-writing, 2004 saw them joining the big leagues of metal. The band was invited to join Ozzfest, and won over t...

-Writing so Dis Con Nec Ted. . . A great song, by the way.  Understated, incredibly thunderous bass, and almost uncomfortably restrained vocals, it is one of my Rychian favorites. -Back from Houston.  What an incredible experience.  It was life altering.  Okay, so I am full of crap.  It was awful.  Not in a really bad sort of awful way, just in a "I spent $1000, plus $500 in airfare, $160 in hotel and $35 for a car just so I could take this idiotic test?"...

Boards, boards, boards. I hate 'em.  But it is part of the wonderful medical education.  And this Friday I take another step.  USMLE Step 2 CS that is.  USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Exam) Step 1 is an 8 hour, 350 question test that tests our knowledge of basic science topics.  You know, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, the like. Step 2 comes in two flavors (for which they charge you $1500 to take!).  CS is the Clinical Skills part.  ...

Operation: Mindcrime II Queensrÿche Year: 2006 Click here for the artist's site I have to be honest right from the beginning here. Operation: Mindcrime is one of the best concept albums written. Ever. Period. The music is powerful, the lyrics both interesting and politically poignant (both 18 years ago as well as today), the story well told. But for me, the clincher that lifts Mindcrime from the level of good to astoundingly great is just how strong the songs are. One...